Election (2005) Directed by Johnnie To
Election (2005) Directed by Johnnie To
MahJong: Kids, us adults gotta talk!
Photography: A+
Music: A+
Tom Hanks: Played by Simon Yam!
Lok, You’ve been elected: Thank you, Uncle Mochi!
Screw Big D!: I lost his money on a soccer game.
“Boss, sober up.”
“I am sober.”
“Is it day or night now?”
-Jimmy (Jimmy is an important character. I have no idea who he is. Played by Louis Koo. We’ll see more of him in the sequel.)
Corncob pipe: check!
The Dragonhead Baton: Is over 100 years old!
Long Gun; Sonny; Big D; Jet; Four-eyes; Whistle; Fish-Head; Big-Head; Sparky; Double-Dog; Dead-Dog; East; Corky; Long-Hair; Dinosaur. All gangster movies should be careful to provide their characters with colorful names: This one does!
I’m going by the rules: Watch out!
The baton: Is in China!
Dragonhead Baton: My predecessor was a messy guy! We had to clean the baton with insecticide!
I said don’t cause trouble: Saves the day!
Police: All we ask for is a balance of power; Peace and prosperity!
The last time we met you were a gangster: Now you are a police captain!
You are on: Special Watch!
Gang-fight Fu: There is nothing comic or balletic about it. Brutal.
Why do you think I had Whistle killed?: To protect our business!
Times have changed -- Business is everything now: Crooks need to learn to use their brains!
“I want him dead.”: Now we have a blanket party. Double Dump!
There is only: One chairman!
About an election and the transition of power. And about playing by the rules. I have no idea how Election stayed off my radar for so many years. Made in 2005, probably the most relevant movie since 2017.
A very compact movie:
2/3 The Maltese Falcon (at least the It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World parts) (except this time they find it and it’s The Dragonhead Baton).
⅙ a big Kung Fu ceremony worthy of Kane or RZA.
⅙ Gruesome murder by the nice guy/Tom Hanks guy. Only the monkeys are witnesses.
Spoiler: He had the graves prepared.
“Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and turns into a racket.” -Eric Hoffer
In Election a racket begins as a movement, becomes a business, and turns into a racket.
Not really a Hong Kong genre film. Something else. Maybe Johnnie To’s masterpiece; I don’t know enough to say.
Trigger Warning: Motorcycle-on-car paint-bomb violence.
Trigger Warning: Car-on-motorcycle paint-bomb violence.
If there’s any chance you haven’t already seen this: check it out.